


Autumn's Palette

by GhostDetective



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Budding Love, F/M, Forbidden Love, Older Man/Younger Woman, Possibly Unrequited Love, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 12:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16063277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostDetective/pseuds/GhostDetective
Summary: Buffy couldn’t help the smile that came to her when she saw Giles.





	Autumn's Palette

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little self-indulgent fic about when your path keeps crossing with a special someone's and the beauty of Autumn. Happy Autumnal Equinox/Mabon to anyone celebrating it.

Buffy couldn’t help the smile that came to her when she saw Giles. She felt it whenever their paths crossed, the now familiar butterflies fluttering in her stomach and she had to look down as she felt herself blushing, her words stuttered. That was why, having met Giles three times that day, she was sure that her bashfulness would give her away, but he hadn’t remarked upon it. The truth was that she just wanted to be near him and, as luck would have it, he kept being drawn irresistibly into her path. 

The first time she’d bumped into Giles, it had been expected. She had come into the Library and Giles had been there, in his usual place behind the desk. She had broken into a smile when she saw him and he had looked up from his pile of books and smiled warmly back, his eyes seeming to sparkle. Buffy stared at him for so long that she was sure she had started to freak him out, but she had collected herself and sat down with Willow and Xander and they had immersed themselves in old newspaper articles about Sunnydale residents being found with holes in their heads. If the others noticed Buffy glancing up at Giles, they didn’t say anything. 

The second time it had happened, she had been going to her next class with Willow and they had met Giles in the corridor. He had come out of a classroom and he had stopped them to talk about the new wave of hole-in-the-head cases. He suggested that perhaps a cult was to blame and that, for Buffy’s protection, she should redouble her training.  
“Y… Yeah, of course.” Buffy stammered. “Sorry, I’ve got a lot on my mind, it’s hard to keep track of it. Sometimes it’s like a funnel, there’s so much you want to think, but you can only get so much through, you know?” _Shut up, Buffy, shut up!_  
An amused look crossed Giles’ face.  
“Yes. I’d never thought of it like that before, like a funnel. That’s how I shall think of it from now on.” Giles’ eyes twinkled.  
“Anyway, I’ll see you later… Or, you know, next week. Whenever.” Buffy spluttered.  
“Good.” Giles’ was still smiling.  
“Good.” Buffy echoed, starting in the direction of the classroom with Willow following behind her. Mercifully, Willow engaged her in conversation about black cats and Buffy could forget her embarrassment for a moment. Until she got to the classroom.  
“Oh, crap, I forgot my textbook.”  
“Where did you leave it?”  
“Back in the Library. Tell Mr MacIver I’ll be back in just a sec.” Buffy turned to go back and retraced her earlier footsteps to the Library. 

Once she got through the door, she found it deserted, she went to their usual table and found her book, collecting it and making to leave, but as she got to the door, it opened and she nearly bumped into Giles.  
“Hello, Buffy.” He blinked. “Did you forget something?”  
Buffy started at him.  
“Just my book.” Buffy answered.  
The way the light shone on his eyes, it made the pupils look almost catlike. Buffy found herself staring.  
“Oh, yes, can’t be forgetting that.” Giles’ eyes were fixed on hers.  
“Anyway.” She shook herself. “I’d better be getting back to class.”  
“Yes, I’ll see you later.” Giles responded, closing the door behind him. 

The third time, they bumped into each other outside the school. Buffy had just walked out the back of the building and towards the rows of trees that lined the pathways, now turning golden with the arrival of the Autumn. When Giles walked up beside her, then realised she was there, he had seemed embarrassed.  
“I’m not following you. I promise.” He smiled, bowing his head.  
Buffy had wanted to say that it was always a pleasure to see him, however briefly, but the words didn’t quite make the journey from her head to her mouth. So what she said in stead was.  
“What’s happening about head-smashed-in?”  
“Funnily enough, there’s a site in the rocky mountains called ‘Head Smashed In.’” Giles’ eyes twinkled with amusement. “But I digress, I suspect I may have found the culprits, and it is sacrificial, rather than medical, it appears that they’re preparing for Halloween.”  
“So we can expect another month or so of this?” Buffy asked, feeling her insides sinking.  
“Yes, I fear we can.” Giles replied.  
Buffy looked into the distance.  
“It’s funny, I used to really enjoy this time of year. The crisp, freshness to the air, the colours, all the reds, oranges, golds and purples, the ghost stories; of course, that was before I knew that they were all real.”  
Giles chuckled softly.  
“Yes, I confess Autumn has always been my favourite season, for much the same reasons, but I find, as I approach my dotage, I appreciate the Spring a lot more. That said, Autumn has always been my favourite.”  
They stood there for a long moment, surrounded by falling leaves, resplendent in Autumn’s palette, neither aware of having stopped. Then Willow came running towards them.  
“Willow, whatever’s the matter?” Giles asked.  
Willow came to stop beside them, panting.  
“We’ve got another one.” She replied.  
Buffy and Giles looked at each other, before dashing off, back towards the Library.


End file.
